Upson would begin designing an improvement over the Drachenballon in 1915. America would build and operate several Drachenballons before their entrance into the First World War.Īn example of a German-operated Parseval-Sigsfeld Drachenballon. Thus it was named Drachenballon, or “kite balloon”. The Parseval-Sigsfeld design was built in such a way it would face towards the wind thanks to a large, air-inflated steering bag at the rear of the balloon. The Drachenballon was designed over a decade before in 1898 and was a replacement for the spherical observation balloons of the previous century, as the latter was found to be almost unusable when in windy conditions. The main type of kite balloon in use was the German designed Parseval-Sigsfeld Drachenballon.
In 1914, the company began building observation kite balloons for the US Army to use in their balloon divisions. Upson would mainly work at the Goodyear plant in Akron, Ohio. Upson was an employee of the aeronautics division of the Goodyear Rubber and Tire Corporation where he was a pilot and engineer on the various lighter-than-air projects the company had been working on. In 1913, using his own airship design, he would win the International Balloon Race. Upson was a pioneer in balloon and airship development in America in the early 1900s. R.H Upson outside of the Goodyear Hangar in Akron, 1917 Ralph H. Upson and the Parseval-Sigsfeld Drachenballon A 3rd design would be patented but wouldn’t be built. Two of the designs would be built by the Goodyear Corporation and sent to various balloon training schools and even operate off of ships, but the type was found to not offer much improvement over the Drachenballon, and the much more advanced Caquot balloon which would be introduced only a year after the Upson balloons were built, making the type null.
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The Upson Kite Balloons, also known as Goodyear Kite Balloons or simply Upson Balloons, were a series of three observation balloon designs by Ralph Hazlett Upson to improve upon the design of the German Parseval-Sigsfeld Drachenballon. This particular balloon is based off the first patent. The Kite Balloon operated by the Navy at Pensacola. Observation & Training Balloon – 10+ Built Pilots’ skills were also constantly put to the test, attempting to push their wood-framed contraptions to the breaking point, often with tragic results. Even the slightest edge in speed, armament, or maneuverability could make the difference in air superiority. This development meant that more robust armaments could be used without the need for a specialized heavy propeller.Īs the war raged on in Europe, the British, French, and the Germans engaged in an air arms race driven by constant experimentation and design fads. The introduction of the interrupter gear finally solved this problem by a direct mechanical synchronization between the engine’s rotation and the timing of the gun’s firing. Initial crude solutions included mounting reinforced steel armor to the propeller to deflect bullets that struck the propeller. However this presented a problem of the bullets hitting the propeller. The earliest crude iterations of this setup included the Morane Saulnier which mounted a machine gun directly on the centerline of the fuselage, directly in front of the pilot for relative ease of aiming.
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After much trial and error with different configurations, it became clear that the easiest solution was to affix weapons directly to the fuselage or wing of the plane, rather than attempt to manually aim weapons independent of in-flight movement of the aircraft. However research and development of heavier armed planes soon saw the introduction of light machine guns and many methods were attempted to find a way for pilots and gunners to accurately aim. In the beginning, pilots were armed with conventional handheld firearms to take potshots at enemy scout planes. However the combat potential of aircraft was quickly realized and military aircraft development bureaus were established to oversee the development of planes designed for attack, fighter, bombing, and reconnaissance roles. Initially, crude wood framed canvas covered aircraft were deployed in light reconnaissance roles. World War 1 saw the introduction of aircraft to the battlefield.
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